The Last Fireworks in Cairo
by Kalafinn54
Summary: Upon an unfamiliar scenery in Cairo, Haruno Shiobana meets a strange blonde man.


The night in the desert was cool, standing still, while people lit and gathered around lamps rooted in the sand. The pyramids in the distance were shining with the lights of the fireworks; red, yellow, green and sometimes a white that almost seemed silver as it faded within the darkness. These were not the only lights as other lamps, brighter than the ones here raised from the very ground to illuminate mankind's history; to remind everyone around it that it had once been the brightest scenery of a kingdom's long-gone glory.

But Haruno was far from that spectacle of light, sitting quietly near a paper lamp whose light was much less magnificent, yet warm enough for him to feel comfortable without warmer clothes. He imagined Cairo to be as hot as the coast of Sicily in the summer months. But the Egyptian capital had a winter of its own, with rare snow, but with a cold sharper than that of Turin. The man that sat to his side was at least as tall as the man who had protected him, built like an Olympian sprinter. While Haruno felt the cold despite his coat, the man had a sleeveless black shirt and ample orange pants that looked to be made of the same thin cloth as his shirt. He did not even shiver at the rare desert breeze that moved the strands of hair that covered the nape of his neck, revealing a scar. The man's gaze stared not at the blinding spectacle of light in front of them but rather the six brightest shooting stars that left a more subtle trail of dust as they crossed the Egyptian sky from east to west.

Three of them faded on their way, but the three who did not, shone even brighter as they continued their silent path.

Haruno was not certain why, but the red glow that made the man's brown gaze seem almost orange was not menacing. Something about him felt almost welcomingly familiar. Perhaps because he had been staring at him for too long, the man turned his attention to him.

"You're almost a man, lad," he began, "Almost a man and you still have the look of a timid kid. Afraid of your own shadow. Who do you have to fear?"

He frowned at the question, doubting that the man had any reasons to even care what his life was like. It was more than that, Haruno did not know this man and he was already trying to sneak into his personal life. The people who had tried to do that before never prooved to be trustworthy. They were searching for weaknesses, unlike his old benefactor, who only protected him from afar.

The man let out a long sigh, "And where's that mysterious guardian angel now, lad? Hiding in the shadows?"

He had simply disappeared, as far as he knew. And slowly those who he had helped and become his friends turned right back to what they were: bullies. Part of him wished to ask the man how he could read his thoughts so clearly, but the explanation soon became evident: this was a dream. He had never been to Cairo, not even when his mother brought him to Italy to live with a brute for a father. Still, this was a pleasant dream, even if the person he had for a company was rather strange.

"Oh-ho...you have quick wits, I like that," a smile crept up the blonde's lips and Haruno could have sworn to see that the man had sharp fangs, "But this can be more than a mere dream. That depends on the strength of your spirit."

"The strength of my spirit?" he quietly asked.

The man nodded, "That's right. What are your ambitions, lad? For what reason would you keep fighting and living for?"

He did not quite know how to answer the man's question, not immediately. Haruno looked at the shooting stars, the fireworks seemed secondary to the silent path of the three remaining stars. They were bringing a new deadly dawn across the desert as they approached them and while that would have been terrifying in any other situation, Haruno only felt slightly saddened. How strong was he to stop them from dyeing the night sky crimson before dawn was even nearing? It would mark the end of this dream, somehow, he felt it.

But he did not want it to end just yet. The question the man had asked him was important: for what could he fight on his own?"

"Lad, underestimating yourself is a mistake. A disgusting mistake. You dream of stopping the brightest stars and you very much can. This is _your_ dream and no one should stop you from reaching the stars if you so wish to."

"I...can't do it."

The man frowned at him "And why is that? You figured out this is a dream. Now, it is under your control and only yours. Who's gonna stop you?" he pointed at the distant crowd around the pyramids, "They are too far away and do you think that I want to stop you? You have ambition and wits, lad. Use them."

The man's voice had grown angrier, but it was very different from the explosive anger of his father. Haruno stood up and reached up for the stars, telling himself that he could fly and reach them. He could do anything in his dream, as that man had told him. Haruno jumped and he could feel the air form steps for him to reach out for the unnatural stars. The closer he got to them, he noticed that each of them had a different shine. The one to his left was silver and faster than the rest, like a wild chariot riding through the night sky. The one in the middle shone the brightest with a purple light, powerful while the last one seemed to be tied by vines.

He wished to be with the stars, but while these stars were powerful, they had only that going for them. Power without the restraint to sacrifice their shine for the greater good. They held an ambition that was not like his own. While the stars only wished to leave trails of a menacing dawn on their way, Haruno sought to bring a protective dawn over the desert. He reached out to the trail of stardust that the stars left on their way and seized it. From the cold silver and purple, the light turned warm and golden within his hands. He focused on it to make it grow into a brighter star and he could see the golden light cover him and grow within him.

The blonde man appeared in front of him, right where the cold stars were converging to destroy anything in their path. He too was covered in a golden aura, although it was not quite like his own. Like the stars, it was cold, but perhaps even colder and sinister. Yet the man himself did not look like a villain to him.

"You decided to bring dawn for everyone, I see," the man chuckled bitterly, "Almost like that bastard Jonathan. Almost. Go and bring a new day and don't let that light ever fade."

The light that surrounded Haruno got stronger, reaching out to all the corners of the sky, sweeping the night with the wind of a golden dawn. The three stars hit the blonde man, slowly making even his shadow vanish. Yet, Haruno could still hear him speak.

"You've lived mostly in Italy, haven't you? How about this, lad, you dream of bringing dawn to this place. You might as well be day itself. _Giorno, _in Italian."

The golden rays of the sun painted the dunes of sand and the clouds with their usual balmy colours. And as the sky shone in blue, the stars completely faded and little by little, another breeze swept across the desert, erasing the scenery from his sight with a bright white light. Haruno closed his eyes and the complete silence of the desert was slowly replaced by the chirping of birds and the muffled music of the janitor's radio.

He had overslept and probably was already too late to get to his morning classes. With a long, tired sigh, Haruno opened his eyes and got up, feeling strangely tired. He looked for the clock on his desk and saw that it was eleven in the morning already. If he rushed enough, he could get lunch before everyone else, but he felt a slight headache. Today would not be a day to rush and run to get what would be, at best, an egg sandwich with a can of juice.

He opened the drawer of his desk and grabbed his wallet to count the lira he had. Thankfully, it was enough for a good Margherita pizza. Haruno took a quick shower, but he froze when he took a look at his reflection. His black hair was no more, replaced by golden locks. What was more worrying was the shadow of a strange humanoid being. He blinked a couple of times, but the shadow only became clearer. It was made of the same gold energy that had been all around him in his dream.

The shadow was part now of him, somehow. Just like his blonde hair.

Haruno thought about the words the man in his dream had said before vanishing into ashes.

Giorno.

That name was not all that bad.


End file.
